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City have now spent £130m in transfer fees alone during 2009 and manager Mark Hughes will be heartened by the news that defensive target Joleon Lescott has told Everton boss David Moyes he wants to speak to them about a move to Eastlands.

Adebayor travelled to Manchester yesterday for a medical after a nervy 24 hours in which City feared the striker was hankering after a move to Chelsea.

But the Togo striker's decision to join on wages of around £170,000 a week proves the club are deadly serious about breaking into the top four next season.

Hughes confirmed: 'Emmanuel has shown his quality over many years. He is a proven scorer in the Premier League and for us it's all about having different options and carrying a goal threat, whoever we play. We have to get all our players to the right level so that in any given game we have the right combinations.'

Having added Adebayor to three other attacking players signed in this transfer window - Carlos Tevez, Gareth Barry and Roque Santa Cruz - Hughes will now turn his attention to defence.

City have already lodged two bids for Chelsea captain John Terry. Although an initial £15m offer for Everton's Lescott was turned down, the player is keen to talk to Hughes about the City project where he would double his wages to £100,000.

Warm welcome: Adebayor salutes City fans

While City fans lick their lips about what will happen once they kick off their Premier League campaign at Blackburn on August 15, their opening game of the galacticos era was a damp squib in the unlikely setting of Polokwane, a town four hours north of Johannesburg in an area better known for safari hunting than sport.

The 18,000 supporters roared their approval as one of South Africa's top teams, Orlando Pirates, gave City a lesson.

Although Hughes left several big guns out, and others like Robinho and Micah Richards do not arrive for the three-game Vodacom Challenge until next week, there was enough quality on show with the likes of Stephen Ireland, Pablo Zabaleta, Michael Johnson and Martin Petrov all starting.

Hughes said: 'You could tell our players were at different levels of conditioning and that will improve as time goes on. We have strengthened in midfield and attack in this window; defence is the only area that needs to be added to and we will be concentrating on that.'

Striker Craig Bellamy is relishing the fierce competition for places.

He said: 'This is my last chance to be part of a really big club and have a real good end to my career. I knew when I signed in January what could happen at City. I wanted to be part of it and I still do. If I stay fit, I definitely believe I can fight for a place.'

City hope Adebayor may join them later in the tour and Hughes plans to play Tevez and Barry in the next game in Durban on Tuesday.

They only arrived on Friday after a frantic promotional visit to Abu Dhabi.

Hughes said: 'We are professionals and football is our business. So it's exciting to see what lies ahead.'